Q&A: The Soul in Evolution
The Soul in Evolution
Question
Does the soul undergo evolutionary change? In other words, is it possible that in another X years there will be people with a stronger soul, or a different kind of soul, than what we know today? And because of technological development, are evolutionary changes happening faster or slower than in the past?
And one more question, not really related: could it be that the Messiah or the redemption will be a change in our perception of reality rather than a change in reality itself?
Answer
It is hard to define change in the soul, because each of our souls is different from that of another person. Beyond that, the expression of the soul in the world passes through the body, which is affected by evolution, and therefore in practice the soul will appear differently even if it itself does not change.
Anything is possible. Of course, a change in our perception is itself also a change in reality. We are part of reality.
Discussion on Answer
What does that have to do with Jew and non-Jew? Every person has a soul with different traits from others’ souls (and after all, evolution deals with traits). I have nothing to explain or justify.
What does it mean that the soul differs in its traits from person to person? Don’t you simply think that the soul of all human beings is identical, and the changes only come to expression because of the influence of matter on spirit — since the material substrate, the brain, is a bit different from person to person due to heredity and brain plasticity, people also express themselves differently?
Occam’s razor is on my side. So yes, you do have something to explain and justify.
No, I don’t. Just as free choice does not come from genetics. And in general, go ahead with Occam’s razor and be a materialist. The razor cannot make me adopt implausible theses just because they are simpler.
“Each of our souls is different from that of another person” —
Please explain and justify that. In what way is that different from bodies being different?
Does a Jew have a higher soul than a non-Jew?